


So, What's Different?

by lemonade_zest



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Established Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Fluff, How Do I Tag, M/M, Not Beta Read, Oneshot, Post-Canon, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29481609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonade_zest/pseuds/lemonade_zest
Summary: Christophe asks Viktor why Yuuri has such an effect on Viktor. Phichit questions how Yuuri ended up basically engaged to his skating idol. Both reflect on their path towards their current relationship and what's changed.
Relationships: Christophe Giacometti & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	So, What's Different?

For most of his adult life, Viktor had men and women alike falling at his feet, all in adoration of his public persona or his skills. He would smile and wave, speak confidently and politely, and put on his grandiose performances. Throughout the years Viktor had a few brief relationships, each which ended for their own reasons. Sometimes it was the expected only using him for his fame and influence, or perhaps the opposite, where said fame and influence was too overbearing for their simple, humble life. Viktor had not had a truly romantic relationship ever, though. Yes, he flirted and found people attractive, and had his fair share of experience with intimacy, but nothing he could consider “serious”.

“So what’s different?” Christophe asked him one evening in Barcelona following the Grand Prix Final. They had decided to get dinner together, Yuuri being dragged around the city by Phichit. They were waiting for their food. Viktor thought for a moment, rubbing the golden band on his finger idly as Chris awaited his answer. 

“I can’t sum it up in one simple answer,” he said finally. Chris did not like this response, raising an eyebrow.

“For as long as I have known you, you have always been a conundrum, even to your fellow skaters. God knows I’ve tried to get into that pretty little head of yours.”

“Well, you’re in for a long-winded response if you wish to understand.”

“Go ahead,” Chris sat back in his chair, crossing his arms and waiting.

“Well, of course, you know about the banquet. Yuuri proved himself to be quite special there. He came out of nowhere, really, I hadn’t even known we were competing together until he… made himself known.” Chris smiled cheekily at the comment, recalling the previous year’s eventful banquet. “It’s typical of  _ you _ to do something like that, but no one was expecting meek, unassuming Yuuri Katsuki to do so. It was then that he asked me to be his coach, you know. He was drunk, but we danced together and I felt unrestrained for the first time in years. When I first arrived in Hasetsu, Yuuri was completely different, though,” he said, staring at the wooden table and remembering their first meeting. Yuuri had stared at him as though he was a god in the flesh, and then screamed when he announced that he would be coaching Yuuri. He was also probably staring because Viktor was naked, but that was beside the point.

“Ah, so you were shocked when you met sober Yuuri,” Chris said with a knowing nod. Unlike Viktor, he had known Yuuri before the previous year’s season. They had spent some time in America training together, and though they weren’t exactly friends, he knew Yuuri well enough to know that his behavior at the banquet was definitely not conducive to his typical demeanor. 

“You could say that. I got scared for a moment, actually,” he confessed, though his face showed no sign of the worry he expressed. He was smiling fondly. “I thought that he was just some nervous fan. His mother told me he had posters of me all over his room before I arrived, although when I got to see the room they were all taken down. But even as a fanboy he wasn’t taking advantage of my presence like some have before. He constantly refused to do things with me when I attempted to bond with him, actually. Keep in mind that I did not know he had no memory of the banquet at this point, so I was acting quite…  _ forward _ . Eventually he began to get used to it, though, and I started to get to know him, and, I think, he got to know me, too.

“When I assigned him the Eros performance I got a taste of banquet Yuuri. Although he expressed his sexuality through pork cutlet bowls.” Chris snorted loudly at this, suppressing a laugh. 

“I’m sorry, but Yuuri got silver over me by skating sexily while thinking of  _ food _ ?” Chris wanted to be frustrated, but he couldn’t because the prospect was too hilarious. 

“No, no, only at the beginning,” Viktor assured, chuckling. “He grew as the season went, and eventually the performance was more about seducing a person than his favorite meal.”

“‘A person’, Viktor? Let’s be frank, the person is you,” Chris deadpanned, gesturing to the ring which Viktor still fidgeted with. 

“Yes, me,” Viktor admitted, though not embarrassed. “I told him to seduce me, actually. In the end I didn’t even need to ask. He grew so much in confidence, getting closer and closer to what I knew him to be capable of from the banquet. Not to mention that he is an immensely talented skater, it's just that he values himself so little. His old coach wasn’t doing him any favors, limiting his creativity and forcing him to stay ‘safe’. I had to push him to get to his current level, and now he’s changing his jumps just like me.”

“This is all very nice, but doesn’t really answer my question, Viktor.” Viktor rolled his eyes, but he knew Chris was right, he was rambling.”

“In short, well, I can’t imagine my life without Yuuri, currently.” He knew it sounded corny, but he wasn’t a liar. “He threatened to retire right before his free skate, did you know that?” Chris shook his head no, eyes wide. “He said, and I quote, ‘let’s end this’. It sounded like a break up,” he broke eye contact with his attentive friend. “It felt like a break up. I was angry.”

“Why, exactly? It’s not your choice to make.”

“Oh, and you weren’t frustrated when I decided to take a year off?” Viktor narrowed his eyes, tilting his head slightly.

“Touche.”

“I was mad because it felt like he was throwing everything we worked for away. He’s… he’s only just beginning. He felt like he was getting in the way of my career, I suppose, but he didn’t consider that I could coach and compete at the same time.”

“But career aside, Viktor, what is it about him? I mean, he’s a fabulous skater, I’ll give him that, but you’re better,” Chris reasoned. 

“I’ll remind you that he did break my record, Chris,” Viktor remarked. “And beyond skating… well it goes back to his theme of this season: love. Yes, fans show me love, Yakov has shown me love, my friends and family, too, but Yuuri’s love is different.” This was what Chris had wanted, and he smiled at the response. He had never seen Viktor speak so openly about such a vulnerable concept, so he prompted him.

“How so?”

“Well, as I said before, he doesn’t try to take advantage of me, actually quite the opposite. He values me greatly, and not just in a fanatic way. He makes me feel cared for on a personal level. Like when Makkachin got sick, he insisted I return to Japan to see her, even though he knew it would probably impact his performance. That time apart struck me, too, it was miserable, really. I needed to be by his side at that moment, but I couldn’t be and he… well, he did not do well. And it was beyond the performance, it’s so much more than just the skating, Chris. We support each other, it’s a mutual respect, you know? I’m not sure I’ve ever had that.” Christophe just stared at his friend who was wearing his heart completely on his sleeve for the first time, seemingly, ever. Viktor had always been one to fake smiles and feign enthusiasm during conversations, he knew this about him. Some female skaters threw themselves at Viktor and he would occasionally indulge them. Chris knew some of the male skaters would have done the same had Viktor not been their competition (not that it was stopping Yuuri and Viktor from competing alongside each other next season). Viktor had always been secretive about his emotions, which led Chris to assume that before this season he had been struggling more than he let on (which wasn’t at all), and that Yuuri was able to remedy this. He wasn’t sure if anyone, aside from possibly Yakov, had ever known Viktor on such an intimate level. Even as Viktor sat there and poured his heart out to Chris, he recognized that a year ago Viktor would not have done such a thing, no matter how close they were as friends. Yuuri allowed Viktor to show his love and feelings more freely, as well.

“Hm,” Christophe smiled knowingly, “I guess I do see what’s so different about him, then.”

~~~

“No, Phichit, I am  _ not  _ drinking. I don’t plan on making a fool of myself around other skaters again,” Yuuri said adamantly, he then turned to the bartender and ordered a soda. Phichit just shrugged it off, though, not feeling compelled to force his friend into anything he was uncomfortable with. 

“What? Do you regret drunkenly asking Viktor to be your coach?” he teased, leaning on his hand as the pair sat on barstools.

“Oh, no,  _ god no _ ,” Yuuri insisted, “I might regret being so obnoxious around everyone else, but bringing Viktor into my life? I do not regret that in the slightest.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Phichit replied, glancing at Yuuri’s golden band, “I was so ready to assume you two got married.” Yuuri just laughed nervously in reply. “So tell me about that, anyway. What  _ are _ you guys? I mean, you’re pretty much engaged to your skating idol! What’s different?”

“What’s different?” Yuuri repeated incredulously, throwing his hands in the air, “Everything is different!”

“I guess what I meant was  _ how _ did it happen? What changed you from fanboy to… well whatever you two are labeling yourselves as.” Phichit gestured vaguely with his hand as to reference the vague nature of Viktor and Yuuri’s relationship.

“I mean, it’s months in the making. It’s not exactly a short answer.”

“Oh, I’ve always got time for interesting stories.”

“For one thing,” Yuuri began, “I don’t even remember the banquet, and that’s what sparked all this apparently. I didn’t even know that I asked Viktor to be my coach, I wasn’t even sure if I was coming back this season at the beginning of the year. Then… he just showed up naked at the onsen.”

“You’ve conveniently left out the naked part before.”

“Not important!” Yuuri exclaimed, knowing he’d never hear the end of this, but eager to move on from the subject. “My point is that I was surprised, to say the least. And I was  _ so _ anxious around him. He kept trying to spend time with me and I was just so intimidated! It was like a dream, I still have a hard time processing that it’s real.” He twisted the ring on his finger nervously. It had been a grounding point recently, reminding him that it was, indeed, real. “I was kind of scared he’d hate me once he got to know me, honestly.”

“He could never!”

“Yeah, but how was I supposed to know that? I looked up to him for years, and to my knowledge at the time he didn’t even know I existed until he saw that video. There was no guarantee he would stick around, especially when Yuri showed up. God, that kid is so  _ aggressive _ .

“But slowly I began to trust him and open up a bit, and I found the more that I opened up, the more human Viktor became to me. Like… he has a personality beyond what he projects outward. He’s still a bit dramatic and obnoxious, still charming, but when he’s not performing for an audience of reporters and fans he’s just… softer.”

“Well that’s everyone, to an extent,” Phichit remarked, chewing on the straw of some fruity drink he now held. Yuuri’s sprite remained untouched on the bar. 

“I guess, but it’s weird to see it in someone you’ve idolized for so long, I guess. Either way, the more real Viktor got, the more I trusted him, and the more he built up my confidence. Then the Rostelecom free skate happened.” Phichit nodded, recalling watching the performance on his laptop. It was poorly executed, though he’d never say it aloud to his self-conscious friend. He had spent enough time training with him to know that Yuuri was painfully aware of his failures. “I needed him, but I didn’t want what happened with Vicchan and I to happen with Makkachin and Viktor. I made him go back to Japan. After that he promised to be my coach until I retired… he said he hoped I never retired.” Just looking back on the memory, feeling himself grounded by Viktor’s tight embrace, those gentle words spoken into his ear, it made Yuuri want to cry. He didn’t, of course, not wanting to embarrass himself in such a public setting in front of a friend. 

“He really said that?” Phichit breathed, leaning forward, invested in Yuuri’s epic love story.

“He did… which is why I tried to retire before the Grand Prix free skate.”

_ “ _ What?!”

“Yeah,” Yuuri chuckled, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead, “I didn’t want to get in the way of his career. I thought that if I kept him as my coach he wouldn’t make his return… so I was going to retire after this season. He cried.” Phichit remained silent at that, taken aback, though he supposed it should have been expected as Viktor was always one for surprises. “Obviously I’m not retiring now, and Viktor’s going to coach  _ and _ compete, so that’s all fine now, we worked it out.”

“And this was after the rings?”

“Yeah… yeah it was. I mean, they aren’t exactly engagement rings, it was a birthday gift for him. We put them on each other in front of the church and everything, though. I didn’t deny it when Viktor claimed it to be an engagement. We spoke about it later, and we’re just seeing how things go, really.” Yuuri now looked at his ring, face slightly flushed as he thought of their exchanging of the rings. It was pretty engagement-like when he recalled it.

“Sweet as your kind-of engagement is,” Phichit chimed in, pulling Yuuri from his thoughts, “it still doesn’t explain  _ how _ you two got to be at the level that you are now.” Yuuri considered this question for a moment, searching for an adequate answer. It was difficult to put into words, he found. He always knew of the emotions that fluttered in his chest, but wasn’t ever able to articulate them well. 

“We depend on each other, to put it simply,” Yuuri said finally. “When I tried to retire he questioned how I thought he could return to skating without me there, and when he had to go back to Japan for Makkachin he asked that I never retire. I….” Yuuri hesitated, emotions overcoming him for just a moment. Phichit knew his friend and former rinkmate to be generally emotional, but the intensity of this, and the joy in replacement of his characteristic anxiety was striking. “I never felt so cherished and uplifted in my life-- no offense to Celestino! But he wasn’t always encouraging. It felt like he didn’t believe in me,” he confessed.

“You know that’s not true,” Phichit responded firmly, feeling an urge to defend his coach.

“I know, but I just… after I started training with Viktor I realized Celestino kind of babied me. He never pushed me. Viktor does push me because he has confidence in me.”

“I see,” Phichit said, sipping on his drink thoughtfully. Yuuri still hadn’t taken a sip of his soda. He had watched Yuuri fall on the ice hard enough times to understand why Celestino always played it safe. But then again, Yuuri won more medals in his season with Viktor than ever before, performing jumps Celestino would have never let him attempt in competition.

“He pushes me to be the best version of myself,” Yuuri continued, smiling fondly at himself, “what more could I ask for? He’s changed my life, my worldview. It’s cheesy, I know, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t true.”

In all the years Phichit knew Yuuri, he had only seen him so confident when intoxicated. But he couldn’t deny that Viktor brought out that drunken version of Yuuri on the ice, his charm and skill more present than ever. 

“Okay, I think I get it,” Phichit replied, smirking, “I suppose I do see what’s different between you two now.”

**Author's Note:**

> They change each other for the better! I love them :)


End file.
